Last year saw a record-breaking crowd at KLAB, and organisers are anticipating around 100,000 visitors this year. Photo: The Star/Filepic
KL ALTERNATIVE BOOKFEST 2026
Venue: Central Market, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Jan 30 to Feb 3
The five-day KL Alternative Bookfest (KLAB) opens tomorrow at Central Market, landing neatly alongside the capital’s long holiday weekend and offering a timely draw for book lovers.
Running until next Tuesday (Feb 3), the festival puts Malaysia’s independent publishing scene front and centre, with more than 70 vendors taking part.
Open daily from 10am to 10pm, KLAB — with free admission — brings together a wide mix of publishers and distributors, activating both the indoor and outdoor spaces of Central Market.
Organised by the Malaysian Book Publishers Association (Mabopa), with support from indie publisher Fixi and The Patriots Asia, it functions as both a networking platform for publishers and a browsing ground for readers keen to discover new titles from local authors and presses.
While the majority of books are in Bahasa Malaysia, English-language titles are also represented, with indie bookshops Gerakbudaya, Lit Books and Sunda Shelves among this year’s participants.
Daily programmes include book launches, panel discussions, art workshops, busking and exhibition activities.
First held in 2008, KLAB has moved through several venues around Kuala Lumpur before returning to Central Market in 2022 — a home it has kept ever since.
More info here.
For her exhibition at the National Art Gallery, artist Xeem Noor will share her craft in person with live knitting performances every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11am to 3pm. Photo: The Star/Raja Faisal Hishan
EXHIBITION: XEEM NOOR’S 'BALAI DI BALAI” (TATEMONOLOGUE 2.0)
Venue: National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends April 8
Artist Xeem Noor brings a piece of Japan back to Kuala Lumpur with her installation Balai Di Balai (Tatemonologue 2.0), reopening the Hanya Satu (Singles) spotlight series in the foyer of the National Art Gallery, KL, for the new year.
The work is a life-sized, soft recreation of the apartment she lived in during an artist residency in Yokohama. Constructed from knitted poles and printed fabric, it offers a cozy, walk-in memory of her time abroad, accompanied by photos and personal letters.
But the installation isn’t just a display. Xeem will host live knitting performances every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11am to 3pm throughout the exhibition, demonstrating her craft and gradually building a large collaborative crochet that grows layer by layer over time.
Visitors are invited to join in: the gallery provides needles and yarn, encouraging hands-on participation alongside the artist.
Ideal for lovers of textile art and "craftivism", this interactive exhibition blends memory, material, and community into a tactile experience.
More info here.
A file image of filmmaker Sun J Perumal with 'Jagat' actor Harvind Raj, taken in 2015. Photo: The Star/Filepic
SHARING SESSION: 'SUN J PERUMAL & PADAI FILM COMMUNITY SERIES'
Venue: Five Arts Centre, GMBB creative mall, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Jan 31
Award-winning indie filmmaker Shanjhey Kumar Perumal, also known as Sun J Perumal, will share his career, creative process, and insights in two sessions hosted by the Padai Film Community series at the Five Arts Centre space this Saturday. Following the release of Macai and Blues in 2025, completing the Jagat trilogy, Sun J reflects on the challenges and rewards of making deeply personal films.
At 10am, he presents Malaysian Tamil Cinema: My Love-Hate Relationship (in Tamil), exploring how he has helped to build an independent Malaysian Tamil cinematic voice through middle cinema with limited resources. At 2pm, he discusses Reflection of Mirrors: Making Three Films (in English and Bahasa Malaysia), offering a personal reflection on Jagat, Blues and Macai, focusing on process, language, and filmmaking practice.
No registration is required — this a free admission, walk-in event. Through these conversations, participants are invited to start the new year with fresh ideas, creative tools, and renewed perspective.
More info here.
A gallery view of Kaiyi Wong's solo exhibition 'What Holds The Glow' at Core Design Gallery, Subang Jaya. Photo: studiohued.co
EXHIBITION: KAIYI WONG’S ‘WHAT HOLDS THE GLOW’
Venue: Core Design Gallery, Subang Jaya
Date: Feb 28
Kaiyi Wong's debut solo exhibition, What Holds The Glow, is on display at Core Design Gallery. The show presents four light sculptures designed for quiet, intimate viewing in a home-like gallery setting.
Wong draws on fragments of his cultural heritage, taking inspiration from traditional Chinese ornaments such as lanterns and temple details. He focuses on design principles of balance, restraint, and structure.
The sculptures, including Stillness and Equilibrium, are assembled from laser-cut metal using bolts, without welding. This approach reflects the Song Dynasty view that structure mattered more than decoration and calm was valued over excess.
Natural light in the gallery interacts with the pieces throughout the afternoon, creating changing reflections and shadows. The exhibition will appeal to those interested in minimalist design, architectural detail, and meditative spaces.
Book a spot for an appointment.
More info here.
China-born artist Yang Zifan's artworks 'Symbosis' and 'Silent', part of his solo debut at Galeri Puteh in KL. Photo: Galeri Puteh
EXHIBITION: YANG ZIFAN'S 'US AND THEM'
Venue: Galeri Puteh, KL Eco City Mall, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Feb 21
Chinese artist Yang Zifan makes his solo debut in Malaysia with Us And Them, currently on view at Galeri Puteh in KL. He previously participated in a group exhibition at the gallery two years ago.
Yang's exhibition brings together 48 works created between 2020 and the present, presented chronologically as a visual diary of his time studying in Malaysia and travelling between Malaysia and China.
Blending Far Eastern culture with personal observation and lived experience, Us And Them explores human-animal relationships, both symbiotic and metaphorical.
Yang’s practice is rooted in Daoist philosophy and traditional Chinese painting, reinterpreted in a contemporary context.
Each work reflects skills honed during his training and in Malaysia, using authentic Chinese materials such as Xuanzong black ink, Jiang SiXu Tang pigments and Xuan paper.
More info here.
VIDEO ART EXHIBITION: 'COLORLESS, ODORLESS'
Venue: Ilham Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends March 15
Ilham Gallery's Level 3 space is showing Colorless, Odorless, a single-channel video installation exhibition by South Korean artist Eunhee Lee.
The German-trained Lee, 35, creates experimental and documentary videos and films which explore the relation between individual, image and technology in a social context.
Technology is not only a product of science, but a complex compound of different political and economic interests. The practice of observing these phenomena is an ongoing attempt to understand the strange and absurd world we live in.
Her Colorless, Odorless, a 54-minute video, follows the work records and archival materials of victims of semiconductor biohazards to trace the smells and actions of substances that cameras cannot capture.
“To this end, the voices of Asian women and migrant workers, who are exposed to vulnerability, are heard. Testimonies of the past are overlaid on current symptoms, and the disaster repeats itself in other bodies and places. As multinational corporations move manufacturing plants to developing countries to lower not only labour costs but also the costs of safety standards and regulatory responses, industrial disasters are also globally transferred,” reads the exhibition notes.
Lee’s video was realised with support from the Han Nefkens Foundation-Loop Barcelona Video Art Production Grant 2023.
More info here.
